Why hip-hop belongs in the Alabama Music Hall of Fame

Percy Sledge and Tammy Wynette will soon be sharing a roof with Gucci Mane.

The Alabama Music Hall of Fame is set to reveal its first-ever hip-hop exhibit, with a 2 p.m. Aug. 28 event at the museum, located at 617 U.S. 72 W. in Tuscumbia.

The display will highlight around 20 of the state's rappers, producers, movers and shakers, with items ranging from media to clothing to magazines.

Some names featured in the exhibit will be familiar to fans of contemporary black music. Like, Gucci Mane, a Bessemer-born MC known for hits like "I Get the Bag" and helping pioneer Atlanta trap-music, an influential Southern-rap subgenre. Or perhaps Mobile product Rich Boy, he of the 2006 top 10 single "Throw Some D's."

Producer Rick Rock, from Montgomery, has worked with a staggering list of rap stars, including Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, Method Man, Mystikal and Busta Rhymes. Rock even co-produced tracks on the legendary Tupac Shakur's iconic 1996 album "All Eyez on Me." Namely, "Ain't Hard 2 Find" and "Tradin' War Stories." Others featured in the Alabama Music Hall of Fame exhibit include acclaimed underground-rap duo G-Side, of Athens.

Codie G, known for managing the Huntsville record label Slow Motion Soundz, played a key role in making the exhibit reality. That path started almost four years ago. Specifically, with his conversation with Muscle Shoals music historian deluxe Dick Cooper. "I wanted to make sure people of the culture got their flowers while they are still here, instead of decades from now when people finally caught on," Codie says now. "I want people to see the culture of hip-hop has been fostered in the state since the beginning. It was just forced underground. Hip-hop is the number one music in the country right now, surpassing country music for the first time in the U.S. We have been a part of that story the whole time."

For years, Alabama Music Hall of Fame director Dixie Griffin and curator John Moseley wanted to do a hip-hop exhibit, "but didn't have the resources in terms of expertise until Codie came along," Griffin says. "Once he got here, the project became a priority and I had John begin putting designs and display materials together."

Musically, Alabama is probably best known for roots stars like Hank Williams and Emmylou Harris, R&B acts such as Wilson Pickett and Martha Reeves, jazz acts including Nat "King" Cole and Dinah Washington and Muscle Shoals studio greats like producer Rick Hall and session musicians The Swampers. However, without rap represented, Moseley says, "it felt like something was missing. Hip-hop has been around now for about four decades, and Alabama has its own hip-hop community now for decades, as well."

Asked why Alabama hip-hop belongs in the state's music hall of fame, Codie G says: "A lot of the music derived in this region is based on pain, lost love, dreams shattered and missed opportunities. Well to me Alabama hip hop is the purest form of that. It's still rooted in the backwoods, overseen by the ancestors who walked this land and a lot of untold stories. Alabama hip-hop may not be a household name, but our influence is in your households across the world."

Hip-hop also shares an important commonality with classic country and R&B, genres more often associated with Alabama. They're all storytelling set to a beat. For everyday people.

Of items in the exhibit, Moseley is partial to some of the jackets. "Fashion has always been an important part of every music genre, of course," the curator says, "but it's nice to see a bit of fashion that's different than most of our collection." Codie G is excited about Shabazz's inclusion: "Ali was a mentor to many before his passing. Ali had a hip-hop directory in the '90s which spanned the entire state of Alabama. This was a road map for us, to be able to connect opportunities and build to where we are today."

Codie G, left, and Gmane. (Courtesy photo)

To help organize the exhibit, Codie G brought Florence rapper Gmane into the mix. "He had contacts I didn't have," Codie says. Codie G and Gmane will participate in a Q&A as part of the Aug. 28 reveal event.

Moseley says he designed the hip-hop exhibit differently than any other display he's done at the hall thus far. The intention? To make it modular and expandable. "I hope this is a collection that will continue to grow," Moseley says. "I think a turntable that someone in the business used would look great in there."

Inside the museum, the hip-hop exhibit will be located near a display honoring Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Southern rock legends who made some of their early recordings at Muscle Shoals Sound.

Other individuals highlighted in the new hip-hop exhibit include Attitude, Birmingham J, Jackie Chain, Clifford James, Deuce Komradz, Dirty, DJ Fresh, Kenny Thomas, Mr. Bigg, Redlight District, Small Tyme Ballaz, ROA, B. Cooper and Ali Shabazz. For now, the exhibit is just that. No hip-hop acts are formally being inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame - yet. Basic qualifications for that honor include being an Alabama native or long-time resident and a minimum of 20-years professional experience in music.